Day 15: Split to Athens

Split is a cool place. The old town used to be Diolectian’s (a Roman Emperor) Palace and then the people build other buildings within the palace walls. I know that this doesn’t make much sense but I’m too lazy to really explain it. The other cool thing about Split is that it has more shoes stores per capita than any other city; and the shoes are nice.

To get to Athens, we flew Lufthansa through Munich. This was my first time on Lufthansa and my first time in Germany, and I was disappointed. I had expectations of efficiency and order but I experienced the opposite. Just was we were about to land in Munich, landing gear down and all, the plane aborted the landing and pulled back up into the air. The captain explained that there was another plane blocking the runway. What? How does that happen, especially in Germany? Then, when we unloaded off the bus, they made us go though security again, before we went through customs. I appreciate safety standards but this was just an unnecessary step that led to missed connections (as in flights, not the craig’s list kind), shouting (in German, which is particularly scary), and pushing (by Europeans who do not believe in deodorant). The upside of Gemany is that they love beer.

Most of the people on my flights were business men, all with a sense of arrogance and air of importance. Where are the women? Why aren’t they flying around Europe in Hugo Boss suits presumably making deals and meeting with partners? I suppose we still have a long way to go.

Speaking of men, I found the June edition of GQ in the hotel in Split and read it cover to cover during the trip. What a great magazine. I’m thinking about adding it to the rotation once I start my commute. I read articles about the military and divorce, a serial killer in Rocky Mount, NC, how to last longer (apparently the trick is to picture Mike Huckabee playing the bass), Indian wedding crashing, a transgender sports writer, and Silvio Burlusconi. This last article reminded of a conversation I had the other day with Rob about Europeans and nudity. Why are they more comfortable with nudity and being nude but are arguably more prude? He joked that it may be our purtian heritage, and clearly it has to do with what we see and are exposed to when we grow-up. Imagine a young Italian girl who sees ½ naked women on game shows or hears about the Prime Minister’s naked pool parties and orgies with girls 50 years younger. Of course she is going to hit the beaches of Capri Hvar naked. Let’s just hope that she doesn’t because the minister of education because of her “friendship” with some old balding dude. Good rant, huh?


Misc:

• Dudes should read GQ and then dress like the models in the magazine. I think that mankind would be happier if that happened

• Coke Zero’s demand is greater than its supply in Croatia, and the bottles are black. CZ reminds me of Scotty

• A shout-out to all of the Europeans who studied hard and learned English. You have made my travels much more pleasurable